AP English Literature and Composition
Mrs. Jennifer Mont
Class Website: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsjmont/
Email: montj@gcsnc.com Google Voice- 336-355-7980
Course Description:
Welcome to AP English Literature & Composition! The AP English Literature and Composition course focuses on reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction, poetry, drama) from various periods. Students engage in close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works.
The big ideas serve as the foundation of the AP English Literature and Composition course and enable students to create meaningful connections among course concepts. They are threads that run throughout the course and revisiting them and applying them in a variety of contexts helps students to develop deeper conceptual understanding. Below are the big ideas of the course, along with the enduring understanding associated with each one:
CHARACTER (CHR) Enduring Understanding CHR-1: Characters in literature allow readers to study and explore a range of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms represented by those characters.
SETTING (SET) Enduring Understanding SET-1: Setting and the details associated with it not only depict a time and place, but also convey values associated with that setting.
STRUCTURE (STR) Enduring Understanding STR-1: The arrangement of the parts and sections of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the sequence in which the text reveals information are all structural choices made by a writer that contribute to the reader’s interpretation of a text.
NARRATION (NAR) Enduring Understanding NAR-1: A narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (FIG) Enduring Understanding FIG-1: Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative and invite readers to interpret a text.
LITERARY ARGUMENTATION (LAN) Enduring Understanding LAN-1: Readers establish and communicate their interpretations of literature through arguments supported by textual evidence.
Each member of this class will be able to take the AP Literature and Composition Examination. Most colleges and universities will award college credit for your successful completion of the examination (a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the 1-5 scale of evaluation.) The most competitive schools require a score of 4 or 5. To help you accomplish your goal, we will cover a small number of works thoroughly – rather than a great number of works superficially – and sharpen your skills in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Clearly, your commitment to the course is essential to your success.
The AP Literature exam consists of two parts: multiple choice and essay:
Multiple Choice (45 percent of the test): This section of the test consists of prose, dramatic passages and poems you probably will not have read or studied before. Therefore, your on-the-spot analytical skills must be sharp. Your proctor will give you 60 minutes to read 4-6 works, analyze them, and answer multiple-choice questions to analyze such elements as point of view, character, symbolism, style, diction, syntax, tone, musical devices, theme, figurative language, irony, and paradox. The total number of questions in this section generally runs between 52-60.
Essay Section (55 percent of the test): This section consists of three analytical essay prompts. Usually the test presents: (1) one moderately long poem or two shorter ones with directions to analyze, in essay form, specific elements of the poem(s) and their relationship to theme; (2) a fictional prose or dramatic passage or two with directions for an analytical essay; and (3) a “free response” question which students may answer either by selecting a title or author from the list given on the examination or by selecting an appropriate author or work of comparable merit from their own reading and study. One hundred and twenty minutes are allotted for the essay section, which means you’ll want to allot approximately 40 minutes to complete each essay.
Generally, the works presented for the first and second essays will be new to you; therefore, as in the multiple-choice section, your on-the-spot analytical skills must be well developed. This course, therefore, emphasizes both analysis and composition.
Required Textbook/Novel- TBA
Student Selected Works:
Lit. Circle 1-One of the following: Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, Jane Eyre by C. Bronte
Lit. Cir. 2- Student Selected Play- One of the following: Oedipus Rex or Antigone by Sophocles, Death of a Salesman by Miller, A Doll’s House ,by Ibsen
Lit. Circle 3- One of the following: 1984 by Orwell, Brave New World by Huxley, Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, The Handmaid’s Tale by Atwood, Oryx and Crake by Atwood
Lit. Circle 4- One of the following: Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut, Catch 22 by Heller, As I Lay Dying by Faulkner, A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway, Alias Grace by Atwood, Kafka on the Shore by Murakami, The Color Purple by Walker, Go Tell It on the Mountain by Baldwin
*Many texts are provided by the school. Students having personal copies of individual works is recommended but not required.
Required Materials:
Composition Book
Black or Blue ink pens and pencils
Standards and Expectations for an Advanced Placement English Student:
Course work for this class requires a serious commitment of both time and energy. These are the expectations I will require of you:
1. You are responsible for your own learning. I try to make every resource available to you, but it is up to you to take advantage of all there is to discover.
Be an ACTIVE learner.
2. ALL reading/homework assignments must be completed by their deadline.
3. AP will require you to work at home every day, even if there is not a specific homework assignment you should be reading and working on your Independent Assignments. This is not a class for those who cannot manage their time.
4. Assignments from home are to adhere strictly to MLA formatting (points will be taken off if not).
5. Remember that this is a COLLEGE LEVEL class; you are expected to be prepared, on task, mature, and resourceful at all times.
Policies and Procedures:
Make-up and Late Work: Please be proactive. If you are having trouble with something talk to me in advance and we can create a plan.
Planned assignments that are turned in late will receive a 10 point deduction for each late school day.
If you are absent on a due date, the assignment is due on the day you return. After that 10 points will be deducted each school day.
If you are absent when an activity is assigned you have 3 days to make up that work. This is the Guilford County Schools policy. After that 10 points will be deducted each school day.
If you are on a field trip, the assignment is due the day you return. After that 10 points will be deducted each school day.
You should communicate with your teacher regarding any planned absence from class regarding assignments or due dates.
Grading Scale:
Major Grades (Tests, AP timed essays, Independent Assignments)- 50%
Daybook Writings/Reading Journals- 35%
Vocabulary Journals/Quizzes/MC Practice- 15%
Final Grade: Each Quarter is 40% and the Exam is 20%
Final Exam:
Your final exam will be a released AP Literature Exam from a previous year. It will be scored according to the College Board’s specification, 0-150 points, and converted to the 100-point value. The final exam counts 20% of your final grade.
An Important Note on Academic Integrity
You are expected to abide by Weaver’s Honor Code which states: I will not give or receive unpermitted assistance in preparation of any work or assessment that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading. Cheating or plagiarism of any kind cannot be tolerated. At minimum, parents will immediately be notified, plagiarized work will receive no credit and there will be no opportunity to re-submit. Cheating and plagiarism are offenses warranting a Disciplinary Referral that administrators handle according to GCS school policy.
An Important Note on Works Studied
Literary texts studied in the high school classroom are complex, higher-level texts which may contain mature content and themes. ‘Mature content’ may include, but is not limited to pervasive strong language, disturbing violence and behavior, sexual acts, drug/alcohol use or references, controversial content, or culturally diverse themes. These books are selected based on their literary merit and will be studied through their historical and cultural context. Our instructional purpose is to expose students to perspectives unlike or in opposition to their own in order to analyze complex themes and to promote individual reflection and academic growth.